holmes



G. P. HOLMES. Railway Train Indicator; No. 230,417.

Patented July 27,- 1880.

MPEIERS, PHOTO-LITNOGRAPHEIL WASNINGTON. D. O.

NlTED STATES I PATENT Orrrcn.

GEORGE F. HOLMES, FONDA, NEW YORK.

RAl LWAY-TRAIN INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 230,417, dated July 27,1880.

Application filed September 26, 1879.

- neotion with the accompanying drawings, is a full,'clear, and exactdescription.

The purpose of this invention is to indicate the interval of timebetween trains passing a station, and thus guard to a great extentagainst collision of said trains.

The invention consists, essentially, in the combination, with arailway-track, of a clock mechanism provided with an index-dial and ahand or pointer, the latter mounted loose on its spindle and heldyieldingly at the unit or zero point of the dial, and connected with andoperated by the clock mechanism through the medium of a movable clutchheld in connection by a spring or springs, and arranged to be thrown outof connection by means of levers or their mechanical equivalentsconnected with the track and actuated by passing engines or cars, all ashereinafter more fully described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a general view of my inventionand its connection with the railway-track; and Figs. 2, 3, and 4 areenlarged front, side, and top views, respectively, of the clockmechanism and its connection with the indicator.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

The clock mechanism here represented is of the ordinary type, designedto be operated by weights suspended from a cord wound upon a drum, d,from which the usual train of gearing transmits motion to the spindle a,which carries the hand or pointer 11. This hand is attached to a sleeve,0, which is fitted loosely on the spindle. To the rear end of the sleeve0 is connected a clutch, 0, adapted to engage a clutch-collar, f, fixedto the spindle a.

g is a bifurcated lever, loosely supported at its rear end, andembracing with its bifurcated end a grooved collar connected with theclutch e. To the lever g are connected togglejointed levers h h,arrangednearly or quite parallel with the line of the spindle a, andconnected at the opposite end with one arm of an elbowlever, i, theother arm of which is connected with a spring, 70, which imparts to thede scribed levers a rearward thrust, and thus causes the movable clutchto become engaged with the fixed clutch and the hand I) to be moved bythe motion of the clock mechanism. To the frame of the clock mechanismis fulcrumed a lever, I, one end of which is connected with theelbow-lever t and the opposite end connected with a rod, on, which isextended to and connected with a bell-crank le ver, a, arranged nearlyor quite on a level with the track, as illustrated in Fig. 1 of thedrawings.

Near the rail R of the track is pivoted a bell-crank lever, a, one armof which is connected with the lover a. The other arm supports directlyunder the rail R a vertical rod, 0, onto the upper end of which isscrewed a nut or adjustable head, p, in such close proximity to theunder side of the rail that a slight deflection of the rail will causethe same to press upon the rod 0, and thus produce a draft upon.the rodm by the medium of the levers n a and their connections. The draft uponthe rod m aforesaid causes the lever lto draw upon the lever t, which,by its toggle-connecment, and thus releases the hand or pointer I) fromthe motion of the clock mechanism. To the sleeve which carries the handis connected a spring, 1", arranged to impart a reverse movement to thehand, which movement is limited by a suitable stop terminating theretrogression of the hand at the unit or zero point of the dial A.

Since the described efl'ect is produced only by the pressure upon therail directly over the tripping device, the clutch e is immediatelythrown into re-engagement by the spring 75 after the passage of thetrain or engine, and thus the hand his caused to travel around the dialA by the movement of the clock mechan- 'ism.

The apparatus being designed only to keep trains going in one directiona safe distance apart, it is unnecessary to allow the hand to travelfarther than to indicate ample time afand bearing with its lowerextremity against a cam, 10, on a shaft, 1, having a pinion, 2, whichmeshes into a gear-wheel, 3, on a shaft, 4, upon which is wound aspring, 5, imparting to the described gears a motion which causes thecam to throw the arm, a toward the shifting-lever g.

Upon the shaft 1 is a ratchet-wheel, 6, engaged by a dog, 7, whichprevents the rotation of the shaft 1. To the dog 7 is connected a rod,8, which is extended upward and provided with an offset or shoulder inthe vicinity of the toggles h It, so as to simultaneously with same comein contact with the arm 8 during the rotation of the latter. The saidarm first trips the toggles, as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the drawings,and then, by its collision with the rod 8, lifts the dog 7 out of theratchet 6. The shaft 1, being thus released, is at once rotated by theaction of the spring 5, and by the cam w forces the arm 0; against theshifting-lever, and thus throws the clutch out of connection. The handthus released from the clock mechanism is prevented from returning tothe unit or zero point of the dial, as before described, by means of aratchet, t, connected with the sleeve 0, and a dog, to, engaging same.The hand thus held stationary is released by the lever Z, which isconnected with the dog a, and raises the same out of the ratchet whenactuated by a passing train, as before described.

It is obvious that the connection between the clock mechanism and trackcan be constructed in various ways, and I therefore do not limitmyselfin that respect.

The dial A is represented in the drawings as graduated for aminute-hand, from fortyfive to sixty minutes being deemed ample timebetween two trains.

By illuminating the dial the indicator is rendered serviceable at nightas well as in daytime.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In combinationwith a railway-track, a clock mechanism provided with an index-dial, anindex hand or pointer mounted loose upon its spindle and held yieldinglyat the unit or zero point of the dial, a clutch adapted to connect thehand with the movement of the clock mechanism, a spring arranged toforce the clutch in connection, and a shifting-lever adapt- -ed to throwthe clutch out of connection and arranged to be actuated by contact witha passing engine or train, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

2. The combination, with a clock mechanism, of the sleeve 0, fittedloose to the spindle a, and provided with fixed hand b and movableclutch e, the clutch-collarf, fixed to the spindle a, shifting-lever g,toggle [L h, elbowlever i, and sprin g k, substantially as described andshown.

3. The combination, with a clock mechanism, of the sleeve 0, providedwith the band B andclutch e, the clutch-collar], fixed to the spindle a,the shifting-lever g, toggle h h, elbowlever 2', spring is, and lever l,substantially as and for the purpose set forth and shown.

4. In combination with the sleeve 0, provided with the hand I) andclutch e, the shifting -lever g, toggle h h, and tripping arm 3,

arranged to operate in the manner specified.

5. In combination with the sleeve 0, provided with the hand I) andclutch 6, arranged to be thrown in and out of connection with the clockmechanism, the spring 1', arranged to impart a reversed motion to thesleeve, and

a stop for limiting the retrograde movement of the sleeve, as and forthe purpose set forth.

6. The combination of the sleeve 0, provided with the hand I), clutch 0,arm .9, spring 'r, and ratchet t, the clutch-collarf, fixed to spindlea, the shifting-lever g, toggles h h,elbow-1ever i, spring k, lever l,and dog a, all arranged to operate substantially as described.

7. In combination with the shifting-lever g and arm 8, the arm 1;, cam20, gears 2 3, spring 5, ratchet 6, dog 7, and the rod 8, allconstructed and combined to operate substantially in the manner setforth and described.

I11 testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name, in the presence oftwo attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga andState of New York, this 27th day of May, 1879.

GEORGE F. HOLMES.

Witnesses:

C. BENDIXEN, E. LAASS.

